Cocteau Twins & Harold Budd: The Moon and The Melodies 12"

On 23 August, almost forty years after it was initially released, The Moon and the Melodiesby Cocteau Twins and Harold Budd is being reissued on vinyl for the first time – remastered, from the original tapes, by Robin Guthrie himself. The Moon and the Melodies is a singular record within the Cocteau Twins’ catalogue – unusually ethereal, even by their standards, and largely instrumental, guided by the free-form improvisations of Harold Budd, an ambient pioneer who had drifted into their orbit as if by divine intervention. Building on the atmospheric bliss of Victorialand, released earlier the same year, it signaled a possible future for the trio, yet it was a path they’d never take again. Over the ensuing years, The Moon and the Melodies has attracted a passionate fan base. Its most atmospheric tracks routinely turn up in ambient DJ sets. ‘Sea, Swallow Me’ is one of the Cocteau Twins’ most streamed songs on Spotify, having found a new life on TikTok, where it serves as the soundt